Balyuan Tower

This place used to have a watchpoint tower made of iron railings and a "tower" at the top. It kept being renovated all the time, until it was finally demolished. The tower was used as a lookout point for Moro pirates. This arena-like area (added in the 80s) is used for concerts, competitions, free outdoor movies, and cheap dates. You can buy streetfood barbecue behind it. This looks out to the bay (and to the tower) and you can see the sunrise and moonrise from here.

It's called Balyuan because this was the place where the bigger Sto. Nino of Basey Parish was exchanged with that of the smaller Sto. Nino statue of Tacloban. 'Balyu' in Waray means 'exchange'. A festival is held here every year to celebrate that exchange. The statue is supposed to be miraculous.

(Of course, balyu could mean 'trade'. Balyuan, a place where you trade.)

Children's playground

Our Family Park.

Want some fresh buko juice?

In case you start thinking that Tacloban is all Greek-looking buildings and monuments, let me start showing you the real side now.

After all that sightseeing, you might want to stop by for some fresh buko juice. Buko in any Philippine language (we have more than 100 languages, did you know?) means 'young' and is mostly used to describe young coconuts, not persons. Lined on the side of the street on your way to McArthur Park (just a few yards from there), you will see these small bamboo kiosks with buko piled high on tables or on the ground. You drink and eat a buko without any utensils while you try to sit back on the creaky bamboo benches and look out to the sea which is just across the street. Cars rarely pass here, so the sea breeze is not polluted. One buko costs P10-12 (about $0.25 each), it's very refreshing and better-tasting than a soda. Best time to come here.. around 3 in the afternoon, when the sun is not hot anymore. Place is the locals' secret. I never see a tourist here, they're probably thinking 'is it safe? is it clean?'. Haha.. (Note: buko is rich in fat, so if you're dieting don't do this everyday.)

McArthur Park

Talking of Gen. McArthur, he has this monument in Palo Leyte, where he first landed with his troops in the Philippines on October 20, 1944. McArthur Park (where this monument is located) is just a few minutes drive from Tacloban, where many American and Japanese visitors come to have their pictures taken. The imposing monument used to be made of concrete but was destroyed during the Marcos regime. This was replaced by bronze statues commissioned by Imelda Marcos and renamed Imelda Park. Don't know who the artist was. After Marcos was deposed from power, every street and parks in Leyte that were named after them were named back to their original names. Thus Imelda Park became McArthur Park again. Anniversaries of the Leyte Landing are held yearly, so I will probably post another photo of the park in October.